


Dismiss

by TeethHoarder



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 09:25:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16216175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeethHoarder/pseuds/TeethHoarder
Summary: For the GerEng week on Tumblr! it's a day late but I tried. This is day 2 of the challenge, the prompt was "Dismiss". I'm excited for the rest of the week!Ludwig is over for a little while, but it seems he’s not as accepting of Arthur’s magical friends as perhaps he should be. Lesson to be learned: Don’t badmouth the Fae.





	Dismiss

The rain from outside could be heard from the kitchen the pair stood in, pattering against the windows as it poured. It had been a while since it rained like this, and yet it had been raining all day. The weather had cancelled their plans and left them to sit inside reading or going about their business. It wasn’t a bad day, Ludwig had actually found it quite enjoyable, he seemed to appreciate the soothing sounds this day long pour had brought to him. He was left tired though, funny how doing nothing all day could be so exhausting. 

“You sure you want coffee this time of night?” Arthur’s voice broke his stare through the window. He turned, giving a light shrug, “I prefer it to tea.”  
“Well if you can’t sleep don’t come crawling to me.” Though the Englishman’s words were spoken with a sigh, there was a humour in his voice at least. Something telling that he wouldn’t entirely be put off by the idea. 

Ludwig moved away from the large windows, choosing instead to move past his partner to lean on the counter top, watching the kettle be boiled with his arms crossed. It was clear Arthur was practiced in making tea for multiple, but coffee he could never quite get right, even if it was instant and the man he was making it for didn’t take milk or sugar. But he tried, and that’s the only reason the offer was accepted every time. 

A tut sounded as Arthur opened the tin he kept his tea bags in, apparently empty. “I put more in just this morning.” He mumbled, opening a top cupboard to retrieve his stash.  
“There were some when I made you tea earlier, but you drink it more than water, I wouldn’t be surprised if you used it up again.”  
“Yes, but a whole box? I’d be pissing more than the rain outside. It’s those bloody faeries…”  
Ludwig snorted, immediately bringing a hand up to cover his mouth in an attempt to hide his amusement, “I’m sorry?”  
“Annoying little things probably snuck in looking for somewhere to keep dry… What?”  
“Peter isn’t here you know you don’t have to explain everything with a story.”  
But, the look on Arthur’s face – a confused frown as he looked towards the German beside him – told a different story.  
“You’re serious?” Ludwig pursed his lips, trying not to let his voice quiver with laughter,  
“Of course I’m serious! Why wouldn’t I be?”  
“Because you’re talking about fairies. children’s tales.” 

The Englishman’s confusion soon turned to annoyance, arms crossed and eyebrow raised like a disappointed parent.  
“Don’t look at me like that.” Ludwig shook his head,  
“Like what?”  
“Like I’ve done you some personal wrong.”  
“You don’t believe me.” Arthur nodded, his eyes hard and serious. Really it was difficult to take him as seriously as he wanted.  
“I don’t believe in magic.”  
“Evident.” He huffed, turning back to the kettle which had now finished it’s boiling for him to pour the water into each cup. If he wasn’t being watched, Ludwig probably wouldn’t trust him not to poison it. But he took it anyway, blowing the steam from the surface in an attempt to cool it. 

As they stood in silence, Ludwig raised an eyebrow. His host started doing something incredibly odd, and he couldn’t help but question it. “What are you doing?”  
“Putting sugar around the tea.”  
“You’re going to get ants.”  
“No.” Arthur brushed his hands of the sugar grains he had been sprinkling around the containers that held the tea and coffee, “I’m going to stop faeries from messing with my things.” He huffed, taking his tea in a sharp way that only Arthur could possibly manage. “I’m going to bed.”  
“I’ll keep watch of the trolls while you’re gone.” Apparently, the joke didn’t land quite well as the Englishman scoffed and swept his way up the stairs, leaving his partner standing in the kitchen alone – or with faeries as he insisted. 

When he was sure his host was out of earshot and sight, Ludwig snuck the contents of his mug into the sink. How someone could be so bad at making instant coffee was a mystery and a talent in itself. Not that he would say that, he would prefer to make a new cup and pretend it was the same. But he rinsed out the mug and went for the coffee again, pausing at the line of sugar. Why on earth was sugar supposed to stop them? He swiped some of it away so he could pull the tin towards him, just about to scoop some into his mug when a crash upstairs made him stop. Remaking coffee would have to wait as he hurried up the stairs to investigate. 

“Arthur?” He called, creaking open the door to his partner’s room. Arthur turned quite sharply, an innocent smile immediately on his face,  
“What is it?”  
“I heard a crash...” Ludwig frowned, “Are you alright.”  
“Yeah fine, I just dropped something.”  
“Right…” there was an awkward silence before Ludwig nodded, slowly closing the door again, confusion still painted on his face as he got down stairs. Back to his coffee. He poured the water in and sighed, finally, coffee he could enjoy. Despite it being made in the exact same way, it definitely tasted better. 

To please the Englishman upstairs, he tried to replace the sugar around the tins, he’d have hell to pay if that was found out. And with a grateful sip of coffee, off he went to bed, turning off the lights as he went. 

-

Arthur was woken up the next morning by the ever so pleasant sound of someone vomiting, violently enough for him to rise up and investigate. He was just in time to watch Ludwig drag himself back to his room, pale and sweating, looking like a hot mess.  
“You look like hell.” He stepped in as the German crawled back into bed, an arm over his face,  
“I think I ate something bad…”  
“Oh dear…” Arthur’s face softened, stepping up to press the back of his hand to the other’s face. He was burning up, his skin clammy and breath shaking. “What did you eat?”  
“I don’t know. I only had that coffee and then I went to bed…”  
“Just that? Strange… I’ll go grab you some water and see if I have something that’ll make you feel better, okay?” With a gentle pat, he headed out down the stairs. 

As he filled up a glass by the sink, his eyes were drawn to the tins he had surrounded with sugar the night before. The disturbed sugar he had expected, but something seemed off and in need of further investigation. He set the full glass aside for the moment, taking the tin of coffee to check its contents. On first glance, it seemed fine – the usual stuff he kept around for when Ludwig or Alfred came over, he didn’t touch it and so couldn’t tell if it went off or anything similar. Still, he gave it a sniff. Just beyond the strong smell of ground coffee that threatened to choke him out, something oddly familiar and floral hid. Oh, he could practically hear the giggles around him. Bastards. 

Taking the glass and tin of coffee, he made his way back upstairs and to his partner’s room. “Did it taste off?” He asked, placing the glass on the side table,  
“Coffee doesn’t go off.” Ludwig replied, not moving his arm away or even reacting to the glass beside him,  
“Well, did it taste different?”  
There was a pause, “I’ll be honest.” The German sighed, “You make terrible coffee. I remade the cup.”  
“Right.” His eyebrows raised, Arthur couldn’t entirely find the time to be offended. Instead, he turned, tin still in hand, “Stay there.”  
“I don’t think I have a choice.” 

Once he made it to his own room, his face soured completely, “Alright.” He began, stalking to the bedside drawer, “Explain yourself.”  
As he opened it, a shimmering light flew out, zipping around the room in an attempt to find the exit. “Get back here.” He hopped up, catching it in mid-flight. Pesky little thing twisted and turned in his grip,  
“Let go of me! I didn’t do nothing!” The faerie he had caught struggled, all four of it’s arms trying hard to pry at his fingers,  
“What did you oversized bluebottles put in the coffee?”  
“I had nothing to do with it, I swears!”  
“Well someone did.” Arthur squeezed slightly, pushing out a short choke from the little thing. He knew this snitch of a faerie well enough, exactly the kinds of tricks he would pull and precisely how weak his will was.  
“I was locked in a drawer all night; how could I possibly have done it?”  
“Well then who did it, Puck?” 

The little faerie sunk at the sound of his name, like a child being scolded by his parent. His arms crossed, “Pro’lly the others… Don’t like it when someone talks bad things.”  
Arthur sighed, his whole body sagging, “Just please tell me what they put in it isn’t going to do serious damage.”  
“Naw. We’re not the murderous sort. Might’a been foxglove...”  
“Oh good. The stuff that causes heart attacks, thanks Puck, always a fucking pleasure.” He rolled his eyes, finally releasing the tiny thing so he could walk, talking as he searched under his bed, “You know, for not the murderous type, you sure know how to pick your poisons.”

“What’cha doing?” Puck shook himself out, landing neatly on the edge of the bed to watch, only to be almost squished by a large case.  
“Oh, I ain’t seen that in a while.”  
Arthur didn’t answer, instead busying himself opening the case in question. It folded out, revealing multiple drawers and compartments that held bottles and herbs, various little brewing pieces and a small pocket spell book.  
“I wanna touch.”  
“Keep all four of your hands off.” He swatted away the faerie, already feeling the others peek out to watch him crush and mix herbs and liquids, boiling them down with a small flame until he was left with a yellowish clear liquid. A makeshift antidote, or at least something that would help until Ludwig’s body healed and cleared out the toxin. 

“I’ll say this once.” He began, shutting up the case again carefully and sealing it over, “Do not poison anyone in my house again or I will have a word with your royals. I might remind you we have been quite good friends for some time.”  
“But he-“ Puck stood, feet planted before he was interrupted, a hand held in front of him,  
“He isn’t your concern. The rain has stopped, go home.” 

With this, he took the vile he had created and left the room, sweeping across the hall to once again be faced with a very sorry looking German. At least he had managed to sit up a little and drink something.  
“How are you feeling?”  
“Terrible…”  
Arthur sighed, holding out the vile, “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”  
“This isn’t one of your homeopathy things is it?”  
“I’m not in the mood, can you just drink it? Please?” Apparently, the look on his face was enough for Ludwig to agree, taking the little bottle in his hand, making it look far smaller in comparison.  
“Take it like a shot, it’ll be over quicker.”  
“I was never good at shots.”  
“Oh, stop being such a big baby.” Arthur snapped, arms crossed once more. With this attitude, he successfully scared his partner into slugging it down, immediately gagging. 

“What the hell is that? I think I’m going to be sick.”  
“Try keep it down. You’ll thank me later.” He rolled his eyes, dragging a chair beside the bed, patiently waiting for Ludwig’s face to calm from the initial shock of whatever he just drank. 

Silence rang through them for a while, just waiting for the potion to kick in and start to alleviate the symptoms. It was a good amount of time before either of them spoke again, both tired for different reasons.  
“I’m sorry.” Ludwig managed out, letting his hand fall as an offering to be held,  
“For what? You got sick, it’s nothing.”  
“No. For dismissing you like that… I should know better really. I hurt your feelings.”  
Arthur smiled a little, taking the hand offered and bringing it to his lips. It felt less clammy, but still far too warm. “Don’t worry about it. I suppose it does sound a bit silly from the outside.” He brought the hand to his cheek, finding the heat comforting against his skin. Ludwig’s fingers moved, stroking over his cheekbone lightly,  
“You really do make bad coffee.”  
“Bugger off.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I want to get into the habit of posting my drabble on here because this is an under appreciated ship and honestly I need more work in personifying Ludwig. I have a longer fic I've been writing for a good while but I go in and out of that and other projects, including one with a friend's OC and also Puck! but who knows if any of those will see the light of day.


End file.
